Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1887-11-12
AN ODD CITY IN INDIA.
Life on the Streets OF the Battlemented
Town.

lOWu.
All agree in calling Hyderabad the
most interesting city in India. 1t is
the people themselves, the street life,
the medieval pageants and pomp,
which fascinate. Everything seems to
have stood still for centuries. One
seems plunged suddenly into the age
of the cavaliers. The town is battle
mented and ditched and jealousy
guarded. In fact, a permit from the
residents is necessary for Europeans
who wish TO enter the walls.
Once over the bridge spanning the
half-dry stream, where elephants are
splashing in the deep pools and hun
dreds of ''dhobies' are pounding and
s~crubbing the linen of the Hyderabadee
households, and what a kaleidoscope
tumble meets the eye in the densely
crowded streets. There are long rows
of low, whitewashed buildings, with
facades of Saracenic arches, under
which the merchants squat among piles
Of cotton goods, silks, carpets, brass
ware, gram. etc, sucking meditatively
the amber mouthpiece of the inevitable
"hubble-bubbIe;" money-changers
chewing betel-leaf and rafting their
bags of ''hallisicEer" rapees, or Jumps
of rough-cut silver and copper. On
the flat, terraced roofs yelled women
are %curiously peering at the moving
throng below through latticed screens
reminding one of Stamboul or Cairo.
Elephants gorgeously c%aprisoned,
saddled with silver ''howdah," in
which ''nawabs' clad in brilliantly EN-
broidered silks and v~elvets, rCcline Oh
cushions; camels on which are perched
the Arab soldiers of The Nizam, armed
with lance and shield; prancing little
horses from the Persian gulf, mounted
by sharp-featured parsees, bankers or
great merchants, are seen, while the
mGlti-colored throng Of pedestrians,
Enthusiastically arrayed, or scarce arrayed
At all, AS the case may be, rolls I'M
ceasingly to and fro.
TO the uninitiated stranger il would
seem that the whole population is about
to rush forth to do battle with some in
visible enemy, for AL are fiercely, alarm
ingly hung with %murderous weapons,
from the great noble, with his bejewel-
ed rapier, dashing by, followed by his
escort of Arab cavalry, with swords
drawn or lances bent, 10 the peaceful
''ryot" who has brought in his little
harvest of fruit or grain, a spear and
| shie,3 in his hand, and wearing a Cir
die full of cleaning knives and ancient
pistols, and from the NiZam with
%sword-hilt scintillating with the gems
of yonder Golconda treasure house, to
the ~"sais,' who runs before your ele-
phant, a dagger between his teeth. A
poor devil may have no cloak, no tur-
ban, but be is sure to have a couple Of
long-bladed knives thrust into his mea-
ger loln-cloth. or a long barrelled
Arabian gun slung owe his bare shout
der. Fastened ON the persons of the
HydeTabadees one sees every variety
of death-dealing weapon-the curved
cimeter, jagged ''tul var double-edged
crusader, undulating blades Of blush
steel, perlidions, slim s~tilettos and battle
axes, with every cOncejy lbIe form OF
modern an ancient gun and pistol.
blunderbuss and match-Ock. Many
carry round shields Of transparent rhi-
noceros hide, gildcd and painted or OF
steel deliberately incrustod with grace
full designs Of gold and silver.